We hopped off the overnight train in Hue and immediately realized two things:
1) 1. We were finally back in warm weather. We shall never take it for granted again.
2) 2. The haggling and pushy salesmanship by locals on the sidewalks is as prevalent and obnoxious as we had read.
Yet, after being lost in the cold, damp forest for the past several days, we were happy to welcome both of these points in exchange for a vivacious setting and being able to pack our jackets away.
Our first meal was at a restaurant frequented by our friends Dave and Brian back in the day when they lived in Hue. The staff definitely remembered them, albeit by their Vietnamese names. Dave told us to look for the BLT on the menu because he and Bri introduced it to the owners, and funny enough, it’s still on the menu. I ordered it, and even though it tasted delicious, it looked nothing like a BLT that you’d receive in the states. It didn’t matter, though, we still loved being in this place that our friends loved so long ago. The art that they bought the restaurant still hung on the walls, too. So cool.
We spent our first afternoon in Hue exploring the famous Citadel. Basically a square shaped city with 2m-thick, 10km-long walls encompassing it, with a beautiful moat lining the outer walls, this site lies on the north side of the Perfume River. It served as the residence of emperors dating back to the early 19th century, but was basically leveled during the Tet Offensive in 1968. Only the outer walls still stand, but the grounds inside make for an amazing stroll through the city’s glorious yet unfortunate past.
Remains of the Purple Palace within the Citadel
The following day we toured several tombs of past emperors, exploring the beautiful grounds of these sacred sites. Our tour guide, who was also friends with Dave and Brian back in the day, described the history of each emperor and the significance of each structure within the grounds. If you go, don’t expect a cemetery-type attraction. These tombs are basically gorgeous residences on which the rulers lived and were buried after their death. Amazing landscapes which make for incredible photos.
We also stopped by the Thien Mu Pagoda, which is the unofficial symbol of the city. Also lying on the Perfume River, these grounds are filled with colorful flowers and young monks wandering the gardens in their maroon robes. This pagoda also houses the car in which Thích Quảng Đức and his fellow monks drove to Saigon on June 11, 1963, so that Thích could burn himself to death in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem administration. The image of him burning is one of the most famous photos of the 20th century, which was made even more famous for our generation when Rage Against The Machine used it on the cover of their first album.
We used our tour guide and car while we had them at our disposal to drive over to the beach and show us an authentic, local seafood restaurant. Their insights into the city and knowledge of the area definitely helped us understand the city more than if we were to have explored on our own.
Having seen all of the sites Hue has to offer, and giving up on it being a good city to get a quality massage (the horror), we hired a driver to take us up to the Phong Nha Cave, about 4 hours north of Hue. A wise person would have visited this cave on their way to Hue since we had just passed it a few days prior, but that wise person can kiss our asses because we doubt he’s ever tried to navigate through a strange continent without ever making a mistake.
Before we got to the caves, we took-in the picturesque rice fields and limestone mountains outside the car windows while listening to our trusty iPods. Once inside the national park, we hopped on a private long boat and headed up river to the 400 million year old cave. As we passed through the water threshold, the driver killed the engine and began to row us into darkness. Beyond the first pitch black corner appeared brilliant karst formations backlit with vibrant neon lights of blue, green, purple, and yellow. It felt like we were inside the It’s a small world ride at Disneyworld. Silence was only broken by the strokes of our driver’s paddle and water pellets falling off of the ceiling.
Once out of the cave, we climbed what felt like 10,000 steps to the Tien Son cave. We weren’t sure what was more welcoming once we made it to the top and into the cavern; the exquisitely backlit stalactites and stalagmites, or the cool, damp air to save us from the heat and humidity outside. Either way, we got to walk amongst the rock formations this time, and were blown away by the immense beauty around us. Crazy to think that this cave was used as Hindu sanctuaries by the Chams in the 9thth centuries, and as a hospital and ammunition depot during the American War. and 10
Then it was back into our private car to drive past the DMZ and back to Hue so we could get a good night's rest before heading down to Hoi An the next morning.
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